GA-970A-UD3 memory compatibility for 8GB sticks?

[scottlindner]

I checked the memory compatibility list and it only specifies sticks of RAM up to 4GB but I would like to use 8GB sticks in order to hit 32GB of RAM.  I'm not into overclocking or any hassle at all to make things work.  I just don't have the time for it.  Can someone help me identify the RAM specs that will work with this board?  What are the CAS Latencies, RAM voltages that will work out of the box with an AMD FX processor on this board?  As for speeds, I want whatever is the fastest that I can hit without having to dork around with settings and spend hours running reliability tests to know things are working.  If that means 1600, I'm fine with that.

I really appreciate the help with this.  Cheers.

[absic]

Hi there,

the only 32 GB Kits that I can easily find are from Corsair (links are for Scan UK)
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/32gb-(4x8gb)-corsair-ddr3-vengeance-jet-black-pc3-12800-(1600)-non-ecc-unbuffered-cas-10-10-10-27-xm
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/32gb-(4x8gb)-corsair-ddr3-dominator-pc3-12800-(1600)-non-ecc-unbuffered-cas-10-10-10-27-dhx-technolo
Both of these kits are 1600MHz and are 1.5V and are what I would be looking at if I were going to buy a 32 GB kit.

[scottlindner]

Awesome.  Thanks!

That's exactly what I was concluding on my own, but I couldn't prove for sure.  I really appreciate the help.

Cheers!

[absic]

No problem and don't forget to let us know if they work OK as I am sure other user's will be interested.

[scottlindner]

Sure thing.  I will post the details of the entire build.  I generally do that for exactly that reason.  I ordered two sticks for now but once it is running I will throw in the other two for the full 32GB.  This is going to be an ESXi 5 box so RAM is a big deal.

[Dark Mantis]

Just a word of warning. If you are planning to fill all the slots later I would suggest purchasing a matching kit of four modules now rather than two now and two later because although you might be lucky and get them to play nicely together they might not and then you can have no end of troubles. 

[scottlindner]

That is true even if I order the identical product?  My intent is that as soon as everything checks out to order the other set.  What I don't want to do is get in a situation with NewEgg where i bought a ton of crap that doesn't work together and they want 10% restocking fees.

[Dark Mantis]

I understand where you are coming from but yes I am afraid this is the case. The matched kits are actually checked for exact electrical compatibility/likeness. once they have left the factory there is no way of being sure that any others are completely 100% the same. If you purchase the same make and model there is a fair chance they will work together but that is a s good as it gets.

[scottlindner]

I understand where you are coming from but yes I am afraid this is the case. The matched kits are actually checked for exact electrical compatibility/likeness. once they have left the factory there is no way of being sure that any others are completely 100% the same. If you purchase the same make and model there is a fair chance they will work together but that is a s good as it gets.

I had no clue.  How lame.  Well, it's already ordered so I just have to hope that when I order the second set all is good.

[Dark Mantis]

Yes well good luck and maybe you will be lucky there and it will all work fine. 

[scottlindner]

I ordered the second pair and ran a couple of rounds of Prime95 Torture Test custom settings set to use the full amount of RAM.  All tests passed.

The build:
Antec Three Hundred Illusion
OCZ ZT Series 650W
Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3
AMD FZ-8120 Zambezi 3.1GHz AM3+ Eight Core  w/ stock cooler
(two pairs) CORSAIR Vengence 2x8GB DDR3 1600
Sapphire Radeon HD 5450 1GB
Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS

I ordered everything from NewEgg on Dec 20, 2011.  The motherboard came with F4 BIOS installed which was critical since I needed F3 or later for it to work with my AM3+ CPU.  The RAM worked just fine and posts at 1600.  The only thing I had to change in the BIOS was the device boot order to use my USB stick as the first boot device for ESXi 5.0 to work.  To my surprise even the Realtek NIC on the motherboard was support by ESXi 5 which is not common.  I am very pleased with the motherboard and the build (besides the stupid choice to put the SATA connectors on an angle).

Some power and heat stats for those that are considering a similar project.
- idle with no disks with ESXi in maintenance mode 78W
- idle with two disks in ESXi maintenance mode 85W
- 10 VMs running but doing nothing ~90W but periodic peaks up to 150W
- Prime95 Max Heat Torture Test 238W and CPU 118F

Thanks for the help.  This was a truly flawless build from my perspective.  I used to be into tweaking but now I just don't care.  I just want to buy stuff that works and not think about it, and I'm not into overclocking.  If I need more horsepower, I will buy it.

Cheers,
Scott